A 21-year-old Dutch soldier was killed in Afghanistan on Saturday, bringing the Dutch death toll in the Asian country to 12, Dutch media reported Monday.
Corporal Ronald Groen was killed when the armored vehicle in which he was traveling hit a roadside bomb, or improvised explosive device, 5 km from the Dutch advance post of Puncak in the southern Afghan province of Uruzgan.
Two other Dutch soldiers were wounded, and the Dutch Defense Ministry said they were in a stable condition.
Groen was the seventh Dutch soldier killed by enemy forces in Afghanistan. Improvised explosive devices have caused three deaths in these incidents.
Meanwhile, Dutch Defense Minister Eimert van Middelkoop told Canadian TV on Sunday that his country recognized that if it decides to pull out of Afghanistan that would make it more difficult for Canada to stay.
The Netherlands is under increasing pressure from North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) allies to extend its two-year mission in Afghanistan, which ends in August 2008.
"We do realize in this country... that we started a serious job that will take many, many years...," Van Middelkoop told CTV.
The Dutch government is to make a decision this month on whether to extend the mission in Uruzgan. The government is likely to endorse an extension, but with fewer troops than the current 1,700, Dutch media reported.
NATO allies Georgia, Slovakia, Hungary and France are likely to send troops to Uruzgan to compensate for the reduced troop numbers.
Source: Xinhua
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